I don’t assume there’s any method round it — the web within the sky has by no means been an ideal expertise. Nevertheless, many airways are beginning to buck that development, and in the US, United Airways has been punching above the remaining.
It’s not solely incessantly updating its app with useful options — real-time boarding group notifications, anybody? — but in addition partnering with Apple to help reunite you with your bag sooner thanks to AirTag. Now, it is ambitiously upgrading its onboard Wi-Fi and web product.
In October 2025, I had the chance to fly aboard United’s first mainline jet — a Boeing 737-900 — with quick, free Wi-Fi powered by Starlink. After the flight, I wrote, “It feels just like the web lastly reached the sky.” That’s nonetheless correct and sums up my foremost emotions, however I received to fly once more — this time on a barely completely different Boeing 737-900 — and United has been onerous at work rushing up these installations.
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Now, each United Specific regional jet boasts Starlink — a giant improve, as these plane beforehand had a few of the least dependable satellite tv for pc web — and United has Starlink on 18 mainline jets. This was a extra packed flight, with much more media, creators, and influencers actually taxing the community. That’s anticipated for a Starlink demonstration flight, however even with slower velocity exams, I didn’t expertise latency or a lot lag with any process that will usually battle on present in-flight web techniques.
At its greatest, through an iPhone 17 Professional Max, I scored 291 Mbps obtain and 35.1 Mbps add. Towards the top of the flight, earlier than starting descent, I received round 41.7 Mbps obtain through an iPhone Air.
Even with these variations, I might livestream a present or film, and even choose a “dwell channel” through Disney+ on an iPad, watch any video on YouTube, and scroll by way of TikTok or Instagram Reels with out the slowdowns or loading points typical of non-Starlink-equipped United flights.
However perhaps the perfect half is just with the ability to keep linked. I by no means had a problem sending a message through iMessage, WhatsApp, and even Fb Messenger. I might ship and obtain texts, images, and movies — due to my brother for sending photos of my pup Rosie. I didn’t really feel disconnected, even whereas flying over Los Angeles at 35,000 ft.
All of it felt very prompt, with speeds just like utilizing my iPhone on 5G mobile or house and workplace Wi-Fi networks. United has additionally made the method actually easy to get linked — and it’s totally free.
Proper now, for normal in-flight Wi-Fi, you possibly can pay wherever from $8 if you happen to’re a MileagePlus member — or $10 with out — to upwards of $17.99 for worldwide routes, the place the community may be particularly spotty.
You’ll begin by connecting to United Wi-Fi, which you are able to do as quickly as you board. From there, comply with the on-screen steps, beginning with a display that claims, “Break the Barrier.”
That’s United’s slogan for its Starlink-powered Wi-Fi. You’ll swipe by way of about three screens, together with three guidelines you’ll have to abide by:
- Voice and video calls are prohibited by federal regulation
- Get pleasure from audio, video, on-line gaming, and dwell occasion content material whereas utilizing headphones
- If others might discover what you are viewing offensive, please select one thing else to stream
You’ll sign up along with your United MileagePlus account — it’s free to hitch and unlocks the free Wi-Fi — or, if you happen to’re signing in in your telephone with the United app put in, it ought to auto-fill. From there, you’ll watch two fast adverts — I noticed a 30-second Starlink one and a 17-second United bank card one — and you then’re linked and off to the races.
All through the flight — which felt like a greater illustration of a real industrial Starlink expertise, one thing United is now operating every day — the in-flight Wi-Fi was constant, clean, and, most significantly, didn’t trigger any roadblocks.
Whereas not allowed on a typical industrial flight, we had been permitted to attempt video calls to actually push Starlink’s capabilities to the max. I used to be in a position to FaceTime with TechRadar’s Editor-at-Massive, Lance Ulanoff, and it was clear, with no noticeable latency or voice or video garbling. He reported that I appeared nice on the opposite finish. Identical with my household, who I needed to indicate a dwell, 35,000-foot view of the California coast.
It was seamless — I might simply browse the online, scroll by way of cloud storage like Google Drive or iCloud, stream movies, obtain songs to a Spotify playlist whereas streaming, hop right into a dwell newscast, reply to emails, and use just about any gadget I had.
Again in October 2025, I additionally tried connecting the Nintendo Change 2. United has been wanting into it, and whereas I nonetheless couldn’t get it to attach on this second Starlink demonstration flight, the airline tells me a patch is coming, and the console ought to start working within the coming weeks.
Equally, whereas I might add movies to TikTok and Instagram — and even go dwell on each platforms — uploads aren’t lightning-fast. A sub-one-minute video took about 5 minutes to add, nevertheless it’s satisfactory. I probably wouldn’t use a flight to add long-form video, however for collaboration, instruments like Google Docs or Pages labored effectively.
Similar to the Boeing 737-800 I first flew with Starlink in October 2025, there are two Starlink antennas mounted on prime of the plane close to the entrance, together with 4 onboard routers distributing the connection. It’s additionally multi-device — I linked two iPhones, an iPad, and a MacBook Professional with out subject.
United remains to be on observe to have its total fleet fitted with Starlink by the top of 2027. That’s nonetheless a good distance off, however progress is regular — with 16 extra mainline plane added since October 2025 and the complete United Specific regional fleet now geared up. Subsequent up are bigger jets — just like the 787, 777, 757, and 767 — in addition to different variants of the Boeing 737 and the Airbus A321.
We will solely hope the timeline continues to speed up as United refines the set up course of. It’s additionally clear the airline is onto one thing, as others — each home and worldwide — are making comparable strikes.
Zach Griff, journey skilled and author of travel newsletter From the Tray Table, shared with TechRadar, “Starlink actually is a sport changer for in-flight Wi-Fi. The low latency and blazing-fast obtain speeds make streaming a breeze. On United, Starlink is a good greater deal as a result of the present satellite-based Wi-Fi suppliers may be lackluster at greatest.”
“That’s why I imagine the following 18 months are going to be painful for United flyers. They’ve now seen the long run with what fleetwide Starlink WiFi goes to be like, however they’ll want to attend till the top of 2027 to expertise it on each jet.”
And I agree, United’s imaginative and prescient of “enabling the lounge within the sky” expertise feels genuinely distinct — one thing Grant Milstead, United’s Vice President of Digital Expertise, bolstered on this check flight and even earlier, when Starlink was simply an announcement.
As of now, 344 plane function Starlink, and United has operated greater than 167,000 flights with the quicker, free Wi-Fi — however for many who are ready, that rollout cannot come quickly sufficient.
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